Treating Poison Ivy

With over 350,000 people suffering from the allergic reactions of poison ivy, treating poison ivy becomes very important. Keep reading this article to find out how to treat poison ivy.

Poison ivy is a poisonous plant (shrub, trailing vine or a climbing vine) and is found everywhere in the United States of America. It secretes a clear liquid compound from its sap, known as urushiol. This compound causes rash on the skin of the people who come in contact with this plant. People may also suffer from poison ivy blisters. It's best that poison ivy is treated as early as possible. Below mentioned paragraphs will throw light on treating poison ivy.

Treating Poison Ivy Rash

You know you have contacted poison ivy rash when the skin, that touched the plant, becomes itchy or becomes red or there are small bumps or hives on that part of the skin. You might even suffer from enormous swelling of the part of the body that has come in contact with the poison ivy. It might take, anywhere between 5 hours to 15 days, for the rash to show, from the time you touched the poison ivy. You may want to ask is poison ivy contagious? The good news is that poison ivy rash is not contagious; the bad news, it can spread on your skin if you scratch. The severity of the rash depends on how much poison ivy you have come in contact with. The more the contact, the severe the rash. Following is a step by step poison ivy rash treatment that can help you in treating poison ivy.

Clean the affected area thoroughly with cold water, within the first 10 minutes of touching the poison ivy. There is a greater chance of cleaning the urushiol completely when you clean it immediately, depriving it the chance to bind with the proteins in your skin.

The next step in treating poison ivy is gently cleaning the area first by rubbing alcohol and later again with cold water. (Don't use very hot water, if you can't stand cold water.)

Clean under your fingernails to scrap off all the urushiol that may have accumulated there.

Rub an ice cube over the rash 5-6 times a day to ease the pain or you can take cool baths. This is said to be the best cure for poison ivy. Ice reduces the inflammation.

Whatever you do, do not scratch. Scratching will damage the skin and will spread the rash.

Let the affected area dry completely, as drying helps to reduce the itching of the rash.

Apply calamine lotion generously to the area to soothe the skin. If you can get your hands on catnip leaves, apply some catnip leaves juice to the rash as this will ease the inflammation.

If the poison has binded with the skin proteins, treating poison ivy becomes difficult. It also causes a lot of itching. You may need to take oral or topical steroids to cure the rash.

If your case is a mild one, then the topical steroids will help. Don't take any oral steroids without proper consultations with the doctor.

If your child has poison ivy, you will need to follow the above procedures. However, cutting his fingernails very short to stop the damage to the skin by scratching, is important in treating poison ivy in children.

Treating Poison Ivy at Home

It is possible to treat poison ivy at home, if the infection is a mild one. There are plenty of home remedies for poison ivy that you can use. Following is a list that you can go through to relieve your itchy skin.

Cool the place by applying cold compresses for about 20 minutes, at least 8 times a day.

Make a paste of Espom salt or baking soda mixed with water and wash off the affected area with it.

Take a mixture of brewer's yeast, honey and warm water several times a day to reduce the effects of poison ivy.

Plenty of vitamin C not only helps to reduce the spreading of the rash, but is also very beneficial in treating poison ivy blisters. The blisters are dried up and the skin stops itching in a very short time.

Apply a mixture of equal quantities of water and apple cider vinegar to the affected area, and see the results by the end of the day. This is one of the several poison ivy treatments that you can follow.

Another way to remove the poison ivy resin from your skin is by treating poison ivy with bleach. Mix half a cup of water with equal amount of household bleach and dab it on the affected area with a cotton ball. This is also a way to dry the blisters within a day.

Soak in an oatmeal bath. Yes, oatmeal has other uses too! Pour about third fourths of the box in your bathtub and relax in the water. Or if you don't like the bath idea, you could just make a paste from the oatmeal powder and apply it on the affected area.

Apart from the above, applying calendula ointment, buttermilk, cornstarch, alum, aloe juice, zinc oxide, vinegar and banana peel on the affected area, are some other ways for treating poison ivy naturally. Remember that poison ivy can be treated at home only if the infection is mild. However, if you face severe symptoms and there is no difference in your state after two days, consult a doctor. He may recommend treating poison ivy with prednisone, a medical treatment. You will need to be careful, however, as prednisone is known to have side effects.

I hope this article has been helpful in knowing how to treat poison ivy. Next time you go out on that trekking trip, remember to be careful of the trees around you. If you do contact poison ivy, don't work out for the next few days. Sweating will result in irritation of the skin which will not help in treating poison ivy. Ensure that the infection does not spread to the face or the genitals. Consult a doctor if the symptoms persist. Use prednisone for poison ivy, if he suggests and take lots of rest and care.